


Making Tea

by Ajisai



Category: Avatar: The Last Airbender
Genre: Family, Gen, Post-Canon, Tea
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2015-01-12
Updated: 2015-01-12
Packaged: 2018-03-07 07:41:28
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 479
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3166889
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Ajisai/pseuds/Ajisai
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Zuko looks to Uncle Iroh for advice, but Iroh's out of that game.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Making Tea

"You don't want to burn the leaves. Most people think that tea tastes bad because of the leaves, but it's actually because of the high water temperature, which leads to a sour, burnt aftertaste. It's imperative that--Zuko, are you listening?"

"Sorry, Uncle. I was miles away."

"Ah, yes, I know. Your and Aang's high-minded project." Iroh gently laid his tea whisk to one side to regard his nephew with kindly bemusement. "What's troubling you?"

Zuko frowned. "It's hard to explain."

"Just try. If something troubles you so greatly that you can't concentrate on tea making, well, then, that's truly an awful thing that must be discussed further."

Zuko stood up and began to slowly pace. Uncle Iroh's tea shop was still closed, and he could hear the sounds of Ba Sing Se waking up around them: shopkeepers next door discussing the high prices of cabbages, two girls laughing over the latest comic magazine installment of "The Adventures of the Avatar and His Gang!" outside in front of the store, and faint clatters and clangs of plates and silverware being washed and shared at breakfast tables in the dormitory across the way. "After Aang defeated my father, and I took care of... the other matter, we thought that it would be easy to change people's minds, to get them to see reason."

"To get them to see _your_ reason, am I right?"

"Well--yes. No. I mean, it's complicated."

Iroh laughed. "I suppose you were hoping you'd tell me this story, and then I'd say something that sounded foolish but was actually very wise, and you'd learn from that. Am I right?"

"I guess so," Zuko said, a little surprised at the older man's words.

"That's not going to happen, not this time. You're perfectly capable of solving your problem, and so is Aang. If the two of you approach it carefully, I know you will find the right solution. Now, were you actually interested in learning to make tea?"

"No, Uncle. Sorry."

Iroh shook his head. "That's all right, Zuko. I'm through dispensing the advice, except to tell you as many times as you need to hear it that I have faith in you. Now, let me make you a cup that will clear your head."

Zuko sat back and watched his Uncle make the tea, his motions methodical, at ease. For one second, there was total quiet in his mind, and everything his Uncle said made sense: he and Aang would find a solution. It wouldn't be easy, but the two of them would make it work. Then the moment was gone, and even though the problems swarmed back into his thoughts, they didn't seem as large as before. His Uncle placed a cup of tea in front of him and nodded.

"Thank you, Uncle," Zuko said after a long drink, "this is exactly what I needed."

**Author's Note:**

> For chordatesrock's 2014 Fandom_stocking.


End file.
